20 Best Ways to Spend $20 on Your Home
How much does it cost to create a happy home? If your answer is thousands or even hundreds, think again. Each of these 20 DIY projects can transform your humble h...

How To: Maintain Stucco
Over the course of millennia, builders have used everything from animal horns to whiskey in the making of stucco—an a...

14 Mistakes Homeowners Make Every Fall
As the days grow shorter and your thoughts turn to tailgating and football games, it’s easy to forget that your home needs a little TLC before Old Man Winter come...

12 Things Your Plumber Wishes You Knew
Why does it seem like the times you really need a plumber are late at night, early in the morning, or on weekends, when fees can cost twice as much as normal. Cha...

How To: Repair Concrete Steps
For construction professionals and homeowners alike, concrete offers many appealing qualities, but there may be none ...

12 Inventions That Do All Your Chores
Humans have long harnessed the power of machines to help us work better, faster, and smarter. Many of these technologies work in the background of our home, heati...

Bob Vila's 10 June "Must Do" Projects
June ushers in the season of outdoor fun and backyard BBQs—which means it's the perfect time to build a new deck or pest-proof the patio. Yet, as tempting as it m...

Bob Vila's 10 May "Must Do" Projects
It's May, which means lawn and garden season is here. As the temps heat up, you may be tempted to pick up a trowel and head outdoors. Before you do, take a look a...

10 DIY Fixes That Do More Harm Than Good
Common knowledge, neighborly advice, old wives’ tales, and “the way my parents did it” all share one important characteristic: Sometimes they're just plain wrong....

Bob Vila's 10 April "Must Do" Projects
With cold weather finally on the way out, April offers the opportunity to return to outdoor living. Prep your space for spring and summer by maintaining the home ...

3 Fixes for Cracked Concrete
Despite its reputation as one of the most rugged building materials ever conceived, even concrete has a sensitive sid...

Bob Vila's 10 March "Must Do" Projects
Spring officially starts this month, and with the change in seasons comes a new flurry of activity. The warm weather will undoubtedly draw the family outside, whi...

Bob Vila's 10 February "Must Do" Projects
February's here—and that means at least 6 more weeks of winter. That means that now's the time to take care of some end-of-the-season indoor projects. If you're l...

Bob Vila's 10 Must Do's for December
The final month of the year is also one of the busiest. Between winter prep, holiday festivities, and end of year organizing, there's much to be done. This list o...

6 Steps to a Cozy Winter Home
When plummeting temperatures and cruel storms combine to make the outdoors forbidding, everyone takes refuge indoors. There's only one potential problem: If aggra...

13 Improvements Most Homeowners Get Wrong
You've probably heard the saying, “Measure twice, cut once.” But when it comes to home improvement, another useful bit of advice—always learn from others' mistake...

How To: Get Rid of Silverfish
Don't let the name fool you: Silverfish are nothing like the goldfish you nurtured as pets in your childhood bedroom....

7 Signs Your House Needs New Siding
It's a cruel fact: Those factors that make home exterior siding so crucial are the same ones that undermine its performance over the long term. In other words, in...

Bob Vila's 10 "Must Do" October Projects
October brings cooler temperatures to much of the country, which makes it a busy time of year for weekend warriors. There's much to do, from winterizing the yard ...

Bob Vila's 10 "Must Do" August Projects
We're well into the dog days of summer, and as temperatures (and energy bills) soar, there are plenty of household chores to tackle—both indoors and out. This mon...

8 Things New Homeowners Waste Money On
Even the most experienced homeowners can get sucked into spending a lot of money on maintenance costs or home improvements that just don’t deliver. For those who ...

Bob Vila's 10 "Must Do" July Projects
Longer days and warmer weather mean there's so much more to enjoy this time of year. At the same time, you may also find there's more to do around the house. Help...

6 Mistakes Homeowners Make Every Summer
Dreams of the summer season tend to focus on long, lazy days spent reading the latest bestsellers, napping in the rope hammock, or watching white clouds drift acr...

7 Projects Perfect for a Lazy Summer Day
Looking forward to a staycation, or a blissfully commitment-free Sunday? The backyard hammock or patio lounger may be calling your name. But if you want to add a ...

Bob Vila's 10 "Must Do" Projects for May
May is a practically perfect month for home improvement. Across much of the country, the mild weather makes it just as feasible to work on the outside of your hom...

6 Simple Steps to a Refreshed Deck
Winters put backyard decks to the test. If yours emerged from the ravages of the season worse for wear, take heart. Today, the floorboards may be weathered and th...

How To: Remove Caulk
Though caulk often lasts for years, it doesn't stick around forever. If yours has become discolored, has developed cr...

Bob Vila's 10 "Must Do" April Projects
Spring is here—and with it, a flowering of seasonal responsibilities. It's time to repair any fences, lawns, or furniture that winter battered and bruised. And wh...

9 Amazing Things You Can Do with Sugru
Do you Sugru? If you have not yet experimented with this endlessly versatile product, you may be missing out on one of the most useful and fun-to-use tools now av...

How To: Remove Wallpaper Glue
Removing wallpaper is, in a word, laborious. The process takes a great deal of energy and time. And lo and behold, ev...

Bob Vila's 10 "Must Do" February Projects
It's the shortest month of the year, but that doesn't mean there's not a lot to be done. Tackle your home projects systematically by identifying your home's needs...

7 House Sounds You Never Want to Ignore
Homes make strange noises on a regular basis, from groaning and creaking to popping and scratching. As a homeowner, you should be able to tell whether that noise ...

Worth It: 8 Renovations That Pay You Back
Conventional wisdom holds that upgrades and improvements will enhance a home’s value. But some improvements are better—and more cost-effective—investments than ot...

How To: Season Cast Iron
Cast iron, properly cared for, can last a lifetime at least in the kitchen. Apart from cleaning your pan or skillet a...

8 Quick Tips for Solving Winter Woes
Winter brings snowmen, sledding, and toasty evenings by the fire. It also brings a special set of maintenance issues that require a homeowner's attention. Proper ...

Winterize Your Home in 7 Simple Steps
With winter fast approaching, you'll want to make sure you've taken some critical steps to keep your house warm and safe through the colder months. Here are seven...

Shhh! 11 DIYs for a Soundproofed Home
No matter where you live, be it city, suburb, or country, noise is just about everywhere. Even the quietest of neighborhoods regularly experience some level of no...

11 Ways to Get Rid of Mice
<p>Say goodbye to Stuart Little! A mouse infestation can be enough to make anyone skittish. Those pesky critters can carry a plethora of dangerous diseases and ca...

7 Keys for Shuttering Your Summer Home
By the beginning of fall, once the warm weather comes to end, second-homeowners around the country begin the process of closing up their summer abodes. When leavi...

How To: Sharpen a Chain Saw
Like any other tool in your arsenal, a chain saw must be properly and consistently maintained in order to perform eff...

How To: Get Rid of Wasps
Springtime and summer are lovely times of year, but they do usher in a host of seasonal hazards, perhaps none more fe...

Bob Vila's 10 "Must Do" Projects for July
July ushers in the start of summer, which translates into outdoor living, grilling, and staying cool. But this month, like any other, there are things you can do ...

How To: Clean a Grill
For some of us, summer doesn't mean sunbathing on the beach or hiking along a mountain trail—it means grilling burger...

How To: Get Rid of Cockroaches
You're not alone in wanting to get rid of cockroaches. These creepy-crawly insects are a major problem around the cou...

How To: Eliminate Fruit Flies
A terrific way to maintain good health is to stick to a diet chock-full of fruits and vegetables. But few things spoi...

Bob Vila's 10 "Must Do" Projects for May
May is a month worth celebrating. Those April showers have gone, leaving in their wake beautiful spring flowers, and the heat of summer has yet to arrive. As the ...

Interior Layout and Exterior Brickwork
Bob reviews some of the new steel framing that's gone up and has a look at the newly sandblasted beams. Bob also summarizes the brickwork that needs to be done on...